Analysis: Suns' offensive efficiency overcomes defensive fluctuations against Nets

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00:01What's up Suns fans, let's talk about that 126-117 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday

00:07night, this game was a classic example of the two faces we've seen from these Phoenix

00:11Suns this season, with the victory, the team improves to 26-17, and they are now a dominant

00:1612-2 against the 10 teams, currently not in a play-in spot or better, that's the definition

00:21of taking care of business, but as we know they also have a tendency to play down to

00:25their competition at times, the offensive firepower was on full display, Monday, the Suns shot

00:3257% from the field and hit 23-pointers at a blistering 51% clip from deep, now let's be

00:39clear about the opponent, the Brooklyn Nets at 12-29 are effectively in a rebuild phase, this

00:45was the second game of a back-to-back for them, and they followed a common strategy by resting

00:50several key players who played Sunday, while playing some who had rested, Cam Thomas, left

00:55hamstring injury, Igor Demin, left plantar, fascia, Daron Sharp, illness, and Haywood

01:02Highsmith, right knee, were all out, the first three of those players were active in Sunday's

01:07loss in Chicago, it's worth noting that in December Brooklyn showed serious, defensive

01:12progress, going, 7-4, but facing a tough schedule with three back-to-backs in the first three weeks

01:20of January, they've chosen to sit at least four key rotation players for one game in

01:25each of those sets, early on, the Suns looked ready to make this easy before Tuesday's matchup

01:30in Philadelphia, they jumped out to a 15-point lead within nine minutes, however, familiar

01:36issues with dribble penetration surfaced, a red-hot 71% shooting for 40 points in the first

01:42quarter masked those defensive problems, that pattern continued in the second quarter, and

01:47the Suns' mistake-prone defense became more prominent, Brooklyn capitalized swiftly, the

01:52Nets closed the half, on a 15-2 run in the final 1-59, cutting the lead to just four points,

01:58that run erased all of Phoenix's hard work, and signaled a severe mental lapse, at halftime,

02:04the Nets were shooting 55% from the field, and 48% from three, with 16 assists, and only

02:10three turnovers, considering Brooklyn entered the game ranked 29th in turnover percentage, that

02:16low turnover number was the most damning stat for the Suns' defense, even if the effort level

02:21didn't seem outright lazy, the implication was clear, if the Suns just maintained their

02:26focus, they would pull away, it took most of the third quarter, but they finally rebuilt

02:30the lead, extending it to 16 by the period's end, the defensive intensity found, another gear,

02:37holding Brooklyn to just 21 points in the third after allowing 42 in the second, but Brooklyn

02:42had one more wave of shot-making left, the Suns couldn't relocate that defensive gear,

02:48which, is somewhat ironic, because that's often how the Suns play when trailing, always

02:53having another run in them, Phoenix was up 16, with 9 minutes left before an 11-0 Nets run

02:58forced the Suns to answer, and answer they did. Key three-pointers from Royce O'Neal and

03:03Dorian Finney-Smith, his sixth triple of the night, pushed the lead back to 9 with over 90 seconds

03:08left, a note on the original text, it incorrectly stated Dylan Brooks.

03:16The Brooklyn Nets player referenced here is Dorian Finney-Smith, speaking of Finney-Smith,

03:21per StatHead, he had scored 21 points total in the last two games while battling illness,

03:25on Monday he surpassed that with 27 points, he also received, his 14th technical foul,

03:32given that this one involved an elongated conversation with the official before the whistle,

03:36it's unlikely to be rescinded, putting him two away from an automatic suspension.

03:41For the Suns, this was likely Colin Gillespie's last start until injuries force another change,

03:46and he made the most of it with 22 points, 5 assists, and just one turnover,

03:51Grayson Allen will likely resume the role of the fifth starter, and he's been rolling since his

03:55return, scoring 14 points Monday to average 18, 4 PPG over his last seven games, he also added

04:028 assists, in the end, Brooklyn finished shooting 51% from the field, fueled by 28 assists, and only

04:098 turnovers, a lot of that was unsustainable shot making by the Nets, but it still represents a

04:15concerning blip on the radar, for the Suns defense. So, Suns fans, a win is a win, and the offense was

04:22spectacular, but with the level of competition rising, how concerned are you about the defensive

04:27consistency we saw in those lapses?

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